Christmas Wish
by x-Brighteyes-x
Summary: Very short fic I wrote. I did it at school so its pretty crappy. Tifa misses Cloud, what will happen on Christmas day? Read and find out! There are a lot of hugs near the end... There isn't a lot of speech as well...
1. Shooting Star

Christmas Wish  
  
Chapter 1: Shooting Star  
  
It was Christmas Eve, and Tifa had just finished decorating the Christmas tree. Everyone in AVALANCHE had decided to spend Nibelheim with Tifa. Well, nearly everyone.  
  
~  
  
Cloud had left on the day when they had stopped Sephiroth and Meteor. Nobody had any idea why he had left, or where he had gone. Tifa made sure that everywhere was searched. She didn't want to lose him again; she might be ale to bare it.  
  
After about a month of looking, scorning the landscapes, towns and cities, they finally gave up. With Christmas nearing, ALVALANCHE settled down back in their hometowns, only to ponder where their leader might be, and if he was okay.  
  
Tifa was most upset of course. She used to sit on the well outside her house in Nibelheim gaze at the stars, wishing for her childhood friend to return. But her still never came. The night became to cold to sit outside, so she prayed from her bedroom window each night before she went to bed.  
  
~  
  
Tifa slowly walked up the stairs to go to bed. The rest of AVALANCHE was staying at the inn. It was quite late, and the sky was clear, so she would stargaze once again. She changed into her pajamas and took her usual place by the windowsill. And, just like any other night, the sparkling dots were waiting for her. Once again, she hoped that Cloud would come back. This wasn't going to be happy Christmas.  
  
Just when she was about to snuggle into to her bed, she saw a shooting star. A big bright ball of light flying across the sky.  
  
'Mum always said you could make a wish on shooting stars and they would come true.' She thought.  
  
She knew instantly what she wanted.  
  
Cloud.  
  
Her childhood friend. The shy little boy that used to sit in front of her house, hoping to get a glimpse of her at the bedroom window. The Cloud she loved with all her heart, but was too afraid to tell. Her Cloud.  
  
With slightly brighter eyes, she whispered softly:  
  
"I wish that Cloud would come back. Even if it's just for one day. Just make him come back to me.."  
  
She looked at the sky for a few more moments, waiting for something to happen. Nothing. With a slightly heavy heart, she closed the curtains and crawled into bed. She cried into her pillow before drifting into an uneasy sleep.  
  
A/n: I know its pretty rubbish.. oh well! Remember to review!  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters or places from FF7. They belong to Squaresoft. SO DON'T SUE ME!!! 


	2. Christmas Morning and something else

Christmas Wish  
  
Chapter 2: Christmas morning. . . and something else  
  
Tifa woke up to the sounds of robins singing outside. She rubbed the sleepiness out of her eyes as she sat up. Blinking from the morning light streaming through the gap in the curtains, she got up.  
  
Then she realized.. It was Christmas!  
  
A little but of excitement jumped through her before she remembered last night and the wish she made. Cloud was still gone.  
  
She opened the curtains to find Nibelheim covered in blanket of white snow. Her first white Christmas.. if only she could share it with somebody special.  
  
She looked over to the inn and saw the door opening. Cid came out, followed by Barret, Reeve, Nanaki, Vincent and a *very* hyperactive Yuffie. They were all carrying boxes wrapped in brightly colored paper. Laughing with each other, they made their way to Tifa's house. Even Vincent was laughing, which was really rare. Yuffie was running around everybody in circles singing Christmas songs, like she had at least 5 bowls of sugar.  
  
She put her nightgown on and hurried down the stairs. Barely glancing at the highly decorated living room with the six foot tall Christmas tree, she rushed to the front door and opened it for everybody to come in.  
  
Tifa greeted them all with a big fake smile and a 'Merry Christmas', hugging everybody as they put the presents down around tree. She wasn't going to ruin their Christmas by being depressed.  
  
Yuffie was bouncing up and down with excitement.  
  
"Lets open the presents! Lets open 'em now! Hurry up! What are we waiting for? Lets open the presents!" She squealed.  
  
So just to calm Yuffie down a little bit, they all sat down and exchanged gifts.  
  
Tifa opened the present Nanaki had given her. She tore off the paper to find a cute golden chocobo teddy. Beaming at her gift, she knelt down by the lion-like creature and gave him a big hug.  
  
"Thanks Nanaki! He's so cute! I think I'll call him... Midas!" She decided.  
  
As she looked back to the teddy, the smile faded from her face. It reminded her of Cloud's chocobo, Shimmer. He had ridden Shimmer to victory in the S class at Gold Saucer. Everything seemed to be reminding her of Cloud.  
  
Yuffie was squealing with happiness when she opened Tifa's present. A mastered wind materia. Yuffie had spent ages looking for one of these.  
  
Tifa nearly suffocated when Yuffie embraced her in a deadly hug.  
  
The whole room was filled with happiness and joy, laughing and chuckling.  
  
But then, the laughing died down when they heard a knock at the door.  
  
"Who could that be on Christmas morning?" Vincent asked quietly.  
  
There was another knock, and everybody just stared at the front door.  
  
"I'll get it then.." Tifa sighed.  
  
Everyone just nodded and continued to open presents.  
  
She walked over to the door and opened it.  
  
Her jaw dropped.  
  
There, standing just outside her doorway, was none other than Cloud Strife.  
  
Same hair, same eyes, same nose. It was him. He was covered in flakes of snow, and just stood there staring at Tifa.  
  
Tears welled up in Tifa's eyes as she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him. He closed his eyes and returned the hug, taking in the smell of her hair.  
  
"Hey Tifa! Who's at the door?" Cid called, trying not to drop his new smoking pipe. Tifa sniffed and rubbed away her tears as she looked into Cloud's eyes, ignoring Cid's question.  
  
"Tifa.. I'm so sorry I left. I really needed to think about something. But I just couldn't stand being away from you anymore. Sorry.." He whispered. "Merry Christmas."  
  
They both smiled and hugged again.  
  
"Come in then! I don't want you to catch a cold." Tifa said in a shaky voice.  
  
They both entered the living room and - once again - everyone was silent.  
  
"Cloud?!?!" Everybody shouted after about a minute.  
  
"Cloud! Why'd ya leave! That's it! I'm gonna kill ya!" Barret yelled. They all stared at him before he walked up to Cloud and shook his hand. "Merry Christmas!" Everyone sighed..that's Barret for you. Saying death threats then turning all nice.  
  
Before Cloud knew it, he felt every singe person in the room hug him and ruffle his hair.  
  
The whole group was happy again. Tifa was over the moon, and they all continued celebrating their favorite time of the year.  
  
A/n: Ooooooooooooo! Cloud is BACK! I wonder what will happen next.. tum tee tum..  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters or places from FF7. They belong to Squaresoft. SO DON'T SUE ME!!! 


	3. Sneaky ninja strikes again

Christmas wish  
  
Chapter 3: Sneaky ninja strikes again  
  
It was getting quite dark outside and Tifa put the golden turkey on the table. They all sat down to enjoy a long waited Christmas feast.  
  
"Please could you pass the carrots Cloud?" Nanaki asked politely from the other side of the large dining table.  
  
"Sure." Cloud replied as he passed the dish of carrots to Barret so he could give it to him, trying not to picture Nanaki spooning the vegetables onto his plate.  
  
"Hey Cloud? Why did you leave anyway?" Vincent inquired as he piled roast potatoes on his plate.  
  
Cloud scratched the back of his head and looked around the table. Everybody had stopped what he or she were doing and looking at him, wanting to hear what he had to say.  
  
Cloud sighed and cleared is throat nervously - he never was good with words.  
  
"Well, I left because I really needed to think about something important. I needed to figure it out by myself." He glanced at Tifa, who just looked at him expectantly. "I went to the ruined site of Midgar and just thought. For two months I just stayed there, thinking. Now, I regret ever going there. It was such a waste of time, because what I really wanted was right here in the first place." He finished the sentence and glanced at Tifa again, but she was too surprised by his last couple of words to notice.  
  
"What were you thinking about anyway, Cloud?" Yuffie asked innocently. "Was it Sephiroth? Gawd, he's just a stupid silver-haired old jerk! If I had a chance, I would have stuck my Conformer right up his a-"  
  
"No, I wasn't thinking about Sephiroth, I don't want to think about him, or what he's done, ever again.." He said coldly.  
  
Tifa looked down at her plate. She would have paid millions of gil to know what he was thinking.  
  
"Well, that explanation's good enough for me! Lets eat!" Reeve said cheerfully as he grabbed his knife and fork.  
  
The whole table agreed and they all tucked in to a wonderful meal.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
The evening passed ever so quickly, and everybody was tired and full of turkey and Christmas pudding - even Yuffie. She was snoozing in the armchair next to the fire, hugging her blue chocobo teddy - which was also from Nanaki. Her mouth hung open as she snored; a big drip of slobber was falling down her chin.  
  
Cid chuckled and he tried to shake her awake.  
  
"Huh? No, I dun wanna go to ninja school, daddy.." She mumbled as she rolled over and started sucking her thumb.  
  
"Nope. The little brat ain't gonna bloody wake up now." Cid sighed as he started poking Yuffie in the arm. Yuffie growled and slapped his hand away, but still remained asleep.  
  
Tifa giggled and walked up beside Cid. "That's ok, she can sleep here tonight."  
  
Cid snorted and went over to collect his presents before he left for the inn.  
  
Tifa bid everybody goodbye, and watched as they all entered the inn before closing the door.  
  
She turned to face Cloud and jumped. "Cloud! Gosh, you gave me a heart attack! I almost forgot you were here, it's been so long.." She trailed off.  
  
"I know." Cloud said.  
  
The two just stood there for a while, looking into each other's eyes and listing to Yuffie's snoring.  
  
Cloud blinked a few times, his eyes going back into focus. "Oh yeah, before I forget," He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a small red box with gold ribbon around it, "here's your Christmas present from me."  
  
Tifa smiled and took the gift from Cloud. "Cloud, you shouldn't have.. I feel so guilty, I haven't got you anything.."  
  
"Please don't feel guilty Tifa, you didn't need to get me anything.. I don't deserve it after what I done...." He sighed "Well? aren't you going to open your present?"  
  
Tifa's cheeks went slightly pink with embarrassment as she pulled off the golden ribbon. She didn't notice, but Cloud was actually quite tense and nervous.  
  
Tifa opened the small box and gasped.  
  
This wasn't real.  
  
A ring. Beautiful ring. A band of gold, crowned with a marvelous diamond and surrounded by smaller sapphires.  
  
She blinked. A ring? This couldn't possibly mean..  
  
She looked up, and noticed Cloud had moved closer.  
  
"Tifa Lockhart, you are who I was thinking about all this time. I didn't really notice it back then, but I love you." He said shakily.  
  
Tifa cry tears of joy. She smiled a perfect smile.  
  
"I love you too." She whispered.  
  
"Will you marry me?" He asked, barely audible, but Tifa heard every word.  
  
Tifa froze. Those words. Everything was so shocking. He loved her, she loved him. He wanted to marry her. Everything she ever wanted, happening on this one day.  
  
"Okay." She nodded.  
  
Cloud plucked the ring from the box, and placed on Tifa's slender finger. Both of them smiling as their dreams came true. Cloud wrapped his arms around Tifa's waist and lowered his face to hers. They kissed the long waited kiss. Neither of them realizing Yuffie had stopped snoring.  
  
Yuffie grinned. Finally. They had finally got together.  
  
A/n: I know its short. I was thinking of continuing, but I'm still not sure what I should make happen next. If you have any good suggestions, please e- mail me.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own any Final Fantasy VII characters or places. They belong to squaresoft. SO DON'T SUE ME! 


End file.
